Electrostatic copiers provided with photoconductors of the type which comprise a web of photoconductive material including a plurality of photoconductive sections connected in series with one another so as to form an endless strip-like photoconductor, have been provided with suitable means for serially feeding the photoconductive sections from the bottom of a zigzag folded stack of such sections, at a storage station, through several processing stations and then to the top of the stack.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,488 issued Sept. 4, 1973 to Van Megen et al.; at the storage station of one known copier there has been provided apparatus for storing the photoconductive sections which includes an elongated receptacle having a generally U-shaped transverse cross-section formed by a pair of oppositely disposed walls. The walls define an upper inlet opening through which processed photoconductive sections are successively fed to the top of the stack, and a lower outlet opening through which stroed photoconductive sections are successively fed from the bottom of the stack. The receptacle walls extend convergently toward one another from the inlet opening to the outlet opening so as to cause the photoconductive sections to bow upwardly within the receptacle. Thus the folds of the photoconductive sections move progressively closer to the outlet opening than the mid-portions thereof as the sections move downwardly through the receptacle. The stack of photoconductive sections is bowed upwardly within the receptacle to facilitate feeding the sections from the bottom of the stack. The photoconductor storing apparatus also includes a pair of tamping devices, slidably attached to the opposite receptacle walls, and a pair of suitably driven rocker arms arranged to altenately lift the tamping devices and allow them to fall under the influence of gravity against the opposite folds of the photoconductive sections as they are fed to the top of the stack. The tamping devices thus cooperate with the receptacle walls in guiding the folds of the photoconductive sections below the level of their respective mid-portions.
As disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 481,048, filed June 20, 1974 and respecting which confidentiallity was waived by the assignee to permit inclusion of the application in the second Trial Voluntary Protest Program of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; in the above described storing apparatus the photoconductive sections tend to resist being upwardly bowed due to the stiffness of the photoconductor. The forces exerted upwardly on the tamping devices often prevent the same from sliding as far downwardly on the receptable walls as is permitted by the rocker arms, as a result of which the tamping devices become disassociated from the rocker arms. The arms may therefore become cocked in place on the receptacle walls or situated as close to the inlet opening that they interfere with the passage of the folds of incoming photoconductive sections. To cure the problem, the aforesaid application disclosed improved storing apparatus for moving the tamping devices out of step with one another toward and away from the stack including means for resiliently interconnecting the rocker arms to the tamping devices.
In the present application there is disclosed a different arrangement of apparatus, than is disclosed in the aforesaid U.S. patent application, for curing the problem discussed in that application for promoting longevity of the photoconductor and resilient means. Accordingly:
An object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus for storing photoconductive sections in a zig-zag folded stack in a receptacle at the storage station of an electrostatic copier.